How can you say Vizzerdrix (U6) and Tradewind (U3) are battling for the same slot? It`s more likely to have been, say:
Vizzerdrix/Tolarian Serpent/Sliptide Serpent

I`d rather take Vizzerdrix over the Tolariant Serpent, and the Sliptide is small when blue traditionally has some fat guy like Leviathan or Kraken.

Trained Orgg/Shivan Hellkite/Flowstone Mauler.

And with Shivan Dragon in it`s unlikely they would reprint the Hellkite as well, so the Orgg looks like a realistic option over Mauler.

You have to remember that 7th Edition is not really intended to be a tournament set any more, it contains a few staple tournament cards like Crusade, Wrath, and BoPs, but otherwise it is effectively intended to be for beginners.

Giz - Because those are the pairs that were playtested. I'm not talking CC slot, I mean the final Rare Creature slot.

I suppose the Morphling and Hellkite pair lost because of Morphling's rulings headaches for new players, and because apparently they thought the Dragon and Hellkite were the same basic role in a deck (even though they aren't specifically, I'd almost always rather have a Hellkite. but that's beside the point)

Why then they couldn't go with Bloodshot - Tradewind I dont know. Those two are some of my favorite creatures ever, and may actually have given me a reason to buy some of the set.

Oh well, another (sigh) for 7th. It's not easy for me to get depressed about a set, but this is really starting to do it for me.

7th is a good move. They're turning it into what it should be: a starter set. All the cards are tourney legal and easy to understand. They're relatively simple too. Portal was a mistake, as the cards were not legal once they got into actual magic, so players who spent money learning with portal would quit when they found they needed to re-buy almost all of their cards. This is what a starter set SHOULD look like. Fatties of varying size for everyone!

None of those cards are equivalent, Utility creatures are ALMOST ALWAYS BETTER, but they're trying to keep seventh simple. Good for them

7th is a tremendous improvement over the last two crappy sets. While I would very much like to see Morphling return to the tourney format so I can use him as my beating stick again in type II, There's no way a complicated card like that deserves to be in a starter-level product.

Besides, I play for fun, for the most part. There are a lot of tourney-level cards in this set but I say, screw the tourneys, 7th looks like a lot of fun. I guess I'd take getting a big blue bunnyrabbit in a rare slot if it means I don't ever have to worry about pulling a Forget again.

Yeah. I don't know if Zadok or Slick remember our most recent 6th draft, but it was AWFUL. The rares we got were Forgotten Crypt, Infernal Contract, Celestial Dawn, and things of that nature, it was awful. I'd much rather have a more balanced set.